So You’d Like To Become A Winemaker

If you’ve always wanted to make some wine but didn’t know how, maybe you should take a clue from the anthropologists, those misfitty folks who leave their homeland and learn a new language and become acquainted with a whole host of new characters. What they do is throw themselves into the middle of things and start everywhere at once. Participant observation, they call it, and it’s a good idea. Let’s start participating by making some cider. Apple cider is North America’s original drink. You see, when those fun-loving Pilgrims first landed in Massachusetts, they were shocked to find that the barley that they needed for their customary beer would not grow in the harsh New England winter. Sharing the European aversion to water, they planted apple trees and crushed the fruit for juice. The juice obligingly transformed itself into the mildly alcoholic cider, and within a few years, cider consumption had reached gargantuan proportions. Because people of all ages drank it, and it was served all day – from breakfast on – there must have been a pleasant buzz abroad in the land. Buy a gallon of apple juice with no preservatives. (The preservatives are there to keep it from turning into cider). If you can’t find that, get a gallon jug and put in two 12-ounce cans of apple juice concentrate and 96 ounces of water. You’ll also need a small package of yeast and a balloon. If you can’t find wine yeast, some bread yeast from the supermarket will do nicely. Remove the cap from the cider and pour off about a cup of juice and drink it. Pay attention to the complexity of the aroma and the sweetness of the juice. In removing some juice, you’ve made room for the bubbling and foaming of fermentation. Open one of the yeast packages – they’re sold by the threes – and add it to the jug. Now take the balloon and stretch it over the mouth of the jug and set the whole thing in a cool spot.

In a day or so, you’ll see bubbles rising and the balloon expanding. Good. That’s from the gas created by fermentation. If it looks like the balloon is about to pop, ease it off, let the gas escape, and replace it. You may have to do this several times. In a few days, the bubbles will slow down. Move the jug to a cold place – a refrigerator or back porch. In another day, the fermentation will stop and the last little bit of gas will be dissolved in the cider. You can remove the balloon and start pouring your cider. Of course, there are variations and upgrades. You can add sugar to the juice or pour off another 12 ounces and add cranberry juice concentrate or honey. You can add a teabag to give some astringency and the juice of a lemon for a little bite. Some people throw in a handful of raisins and get a more winey cider. What do you notice about the taste? Does it resemble the glass of juice that you drank before you added the yeast? Chances are that you can detect a resemblance, mostly in the bouquet. The yeast has probably added something that smells like a bakery, but underneath that (if you used fresh juice), there’s the fresh-crushed apple aroma. You may notice some other smells, too: the sharpness of alcohol, a hint of spiciness and maybe even a bit of the sharpness of vinegar. Now taste. Do you remember how sweet the juice was when you began? The sugar is all, or mostly, gone, and the sweetness has disappeared with it. The sugar made the juice almost syrupy, so you won’t be surprised to note that this new cider feels thinner, more watery. In wine talk, we call this sensation of thickness “body”. The juice had a “full”body because of the sugar dissolved in it: the cider has a “lighter” one.

Pay attention to the taste that stays in your mouth after you swallow; it’s called the finish. Does it resemble the taste that you noticed when you first put the wine in your mouth? Is it a long finish – one that lingers – or a short one that disappears in a few seconds? You have just become a winemaker. More importantly, you have done a bit of careful tasting, and learning how to taste is one of your most reliable avenues into the world of wine.

By: Lynn Hoffman

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